


2 Years Before Case One

by AnExhaustedArmadillo



Series: Case One [14]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Corporations, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pre-Apocalypse, rich people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 14:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnExhaustedArmadillo/pseuds/AnExhaustedArmadillo
Summary: Webster and Liebgott in the face of tragedy.





	2 Years Before Case One

The funeral had been nice, Liebgott thought to himself. It was sad, of course, as most funerals were, but the Websters came from money, and no expense had been spared. The bodies had been buried, which Liebgott at first thought would be beneath the Websters status, then he saw the size of the tombstone and knew it wasn’t.

The burying of the bodies had been quick, all things considered, and Liebgott waited by the limousine for David Webster to finish saying his goodbyes to the funeral attendees. He opened and closed the door for Webster and slid into the driver’s seat, wasting no time in pulling away from the parking spot.

“Home, sir?” He asked, though Webster didn’t respond. A quick glance in his rearview mirror showed that Webster was staring out the window, eyes unfocused. “Sir?”

“Home is fine,” Webster said, voice quiet. Liebgott couldn’t help the pang of sympathy that stabbed his heart.   
Webster’s parents had died in a car crash. An accidental, unavoidable death. It had happened in Texas, after a meeting with some oil tycoon. They’d flown out of California and had told Liebgott that they would just use their Texas friend’s driver. It was probably the first time they’d been driven by someone other than Liebgott in years, and they had died. Neither of Webster's parents had been particularly affectionate, or even basically kind, but they were still his parents and Liebgott knew that Webster was devastated.

***

“Docks, sir?” Liebgott asked when Webster got into the backseat.

“Yes, Liebgott, thank you,” Webster said. The docks had been his favorite place of late. Liebgott would drive Webster down to his private dock and just wait while Webster did whatever he was going to do. Sometimes Web would take his family’s speedboat out on the ocean, occasionally he’d surf, sometimes he’d just sit on the beach and stare numbly out into the water. Liebgott figured that it was probably just Webster’s way of coping.

Today was a staring kind of a day, evidently. It was also a particularly long one. It had been evening when they’d first gotten there, but the sun had long since set, moonlight now reflected over the water. Liebgott sighed to himself, looking at his watch for the millionth time that evening. Being a chauffeur to rich people meant that his schedule was pretty much victim to theirs. It paid well, but that didn’t mean that he liked it.

Liebgott had gotten steadily more antsy as the night wore on, and now he was ready to leave. He steeled himself. If he approached Webster now there was a chance they’d leave. But there was also a chance that Web would pull a hissy fit and Liebgott would lose his job. Liebgott looked at his watch again and decided to risk it. He walked up behind Webster, not liking the way the sand felt against his chauffeur appropriate dress shoes.

“Sir?” Liebgott began and was surprised when Webster jumped at the noise. How zoned out had he been?

“Lieb,” Webster addressed him with the nickname. “God, I’m sorry, I forgot you were here.” He said that as if he felt bad enough to leave, but he didn’t move to get up. It was like he was frozen. Liebgott didn’t know what came over him as he moved to sit on the sand next to Webster.

“Are you okay?” Liebgott asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Webster said, though Liebgott knew even he didn’t believe it. “I just… I don’t really know what to do now.” He said and Liebgott thought he understood.

Webster’s parents had pretty much controlled his entire life since his birth, putting him in prep school after prep school and determining his college and career. Now that they were gone, Webster was technically in charge of their empire, though Liebgott got the feeling that he didn’t really want that burden.

“I’m sure you’ll… figure it out,” Liebgott said. Christ, he wasn’t good at this shit. Again, he wasn’t sure what came over him when he slowly raised his hand and placed it on Web’s back. He left it there for a moment, trying to be comforting, though he was sure it was mostly awkward. Just before he was about to move his hand, Webster did something that shocked him more than his own actions. Web leaned into Liebgott, gingerly placing his head on his shoulder, so the two of them were pressed together. Liebgott felt Web sigh into his side. After a long moment of shock at what was happening, Liebgott did the only logical thing and he wrapped his arm more firmly around Web’s shoulders.

They stayed like that for a while, longer than Liebgott thought Webster would’ve wanted to. Liebgott told himself that it was just a comforting gesture. Webster’s parents had died barely a month ago, he needed support. Liebgott just ignored how hard his heart was beating the entire time he held Web.

***

It wasn’t long after the older Webster died before his son officially took over the business. Webster Medical was the biggest medicine producer in the nation. They did everything from manufacturing drugs to selling expensive medical equipment to inventing new forms of medicine. The company was worth billions. Webster hated the whole thing, from what Liebgott could gather.

“I’m sorry, David, but we just can’t.”

“You can, Warren, but you won’t.”

“It’s not just me, it’s the entire board, David,” Warren Arnold said in the backseat. Webster didn’t usually hold meetings in his limousine, but there were always exceptions. Mr. Arnold was busy, and Webster was busier, and offering to have Liebgott drive Mr. Arnold to his country club lunch instead of Mr. Arnold having to wait for his own chauffeur was Web’s bullish way of cornering the other man.

“Prices don’t need to be that high, there’s just no reas-”

“I’ve told you, David, we have a very strict pricing model.”

“Yes, I know,” Webster spat. “One that’s too expensive for our clientele.”

“That’s just not our problem,” Mr. Arnold said. “Hey, that was the turn.” He said indignantly. Liebgott feigned ignorance.

“My apologies, sir,” Liebgott said.

“A fifteen percent decrease is all I’m asking,” Webster said and Liebgott could practically hear Arnold shaking his head. “We can afford that, Warren.”

“We could maybe afford fifteen percent, but it won’t help our stock prices, and it won’t help our wallets either,” Warren argued. “Hey, that was the turn again!”

“I’m so sorry, sir, I swear I won’t miss it again,” Liebgott said, trying intensely to hide the smile on his face.

“Look, I understand that it won’t exactly make us richer,” Web continued. “But think about the press we’ll get. There’s been a lot of bad news about expensive medicine- even a small decrease will make us look so much better.”

“I don’t know, David,” Mr. Arnold said.

“It’s a hit we can take,” Webster said. “If you agree then most of the board will back you and we can finally push it through. Please?”

“Alright,” Mr. Arnold said, shaking his head. “I’ll talk to the other board members, but no promises. And, if this blows up in our faces, it’s on you.”

“Thank you, Warren, really,” Webster said just as Liebgott finally pulled into the country club.

“We’re here, sir,” He said and Warren Arnold got out of the car, shaking his head for the millionth time. Liebgott smirked as he pulled out of the club’s lot to take Webster back to the office.

“Honestly, Joe, where would I be without you?” Webster asked, clearly grateful that Liebgott helped him in his mission to inadvertently kidnap a businessman. Liebgott thought to himself that Webster would be absolutely fine without him. Liebgott on the other hand? He wasn’t so sure anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be honest, fam, I think I'm writing this fic for like a total of five people, but I keep updating because I personally like some not-that-popular fics and I LIVE for those updates and I want to give that to other people. So, to the few of you who read these, please let me know what you think.


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